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I made some lights a couple of years ago. They were still working but they were pointing down in my engine bracket which made them hard to see and they used 50W halogen bulbs which used a lot of battery power.

This time I went with some high power LEDs from www.superbrightleds.com. The first pic shows them as they came. This time I made an acrylic case for them and mounted them on the bracket between the engines pointing back about 3" below the surface.

This is how they came, they are about 1.5" square.

Here is how I put all three as one. To jump the power I soldered wires to the socket plug and coated it with liquid electrical tape. You can't cut the bulb socket off, thats where the electronics are. I started with 4 lights.

Now building the case. I have been in the aquarium buisness for many years and have built a lot of aquariums out of glass and acrylic. This case is basicaly a tiny aquarium sealed.

The finished product, the coke can is to show its size. No way to get in to it now without cutting it open. I didn't want to worry about leaking seals.

Here it is mounted on the boat.

The pics don't do it justice, these tiny lights are amazingly bright, I can't even look at them directly without my eyes hurting. It should look sweet in the water.

And it uses hardly any power, each little square is 190 miliamps which is a total of 570 miliamps. There are 1000 miliamps in one amp which makes this entire light just over a half of an amp. I think the 50W halogen were 4 amps each.

I'll take one......make that 50 to start off. Whats a "lot" of them gonna cost me.
Hey Hire some tiwanese, give them the parts and know how and have them do piece work at home and deliver them to you....another business, that simple huh?

Yeah this time I wanted the light close to the surface so I can clean the lens. My boat stays in the water year round and the lenses under the bracket would get full of growth and I couldn't clean them without swimming or hauling the boat.

I also thought about the stream line thing. Actually while on plane it will be out of the water.

I might bulid a few more for some friends boats and see how they hold up over time. Maybe this time next year I'll be popping them out and selling them. The problem is that I would have to charge at least 150.00 for one this size to make it worth it. Each square it 20.00 plus shipping. But I'm sure I can get a break on shipping by buying a bunch. The other problem is that they are not servicable, people spending that kind of coin don't like that. Making it servicable would leave room for leaks. We all remember the thread about the Trim Bright lights.

I have 70 bucks into it, 20 for each unit and shipping. I already had the material from previous boat projects. But it uses hardely any material.

Thanks for all the kind comments. I will take some pics in the water this weekend. After its been in the water for a while and if it holds up (no reason it shouldn't) I'll build some more and put them on the Trading Dock.

That looks great. Just a question. How do you guys think lights under a swim platform (above water pointing into water) would work? Would it be as effective? I just don't feel like having another item hanging on the transom or having to clean the lights regularly.

That looks great. Just a question. How do you guys think lights under a swim platform (above water pointing into water) would work? Would it be as effective? I just don't feel like having another item hanging on the transom or having to clean the lights regularly.

I have seen them under a platform but not under water. It looks ok but not the same. Pls you get a huge reflection.

These would be a little bright for deck lights, but you can buy units similar to this that are not as bright. On a similar note I am thinking of building spreader lights using the same units. It will use much less power and the color of the light is much more brisk and pleasing to the eye...as long as you don't look directly into it.